In recent years, a number of video game/toy hybrid systems have emerged where figurines of movie, comic, or story characters can “come to life” in a video game. As an example, typical video game/toy hybrid systems enable a player to “import” a character represented by a figurine into the video game by placing the figurine on a portal device attached to a game console. Each game session may require the player to import the character (via the placement of the figurine) to utilize the character to accomplish various tasks in the game during the session. From the perspective of the player, the figurine and the character may become “synonymous” with one another as the player continues to use the figurine to access the character in the video game. As the character grows in-game (e.g., levels up) and obtains new abilities and special powers, the value of the figurine to the player may also increase—further adding to the collectability value of the figurine.
Typical video game/toy hybrid systems are, however, limited with respect to the interactions between the player and the figurine. For example, during gameplay, figurines are used by a player to select one or more characters to use in a game by placing the figurines corresponding to the characters on a portal device. All other user interactions with the game generally do not involve the figurines. These and other drawbacks exist.